


the moments snatched away

by remi_wolf



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death, Eventual Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Hurt No Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Mentioned Alice "Daisy" Tonner, Mentioned Basira Hussain, Mentioned Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Mentioned Melanie King - Freeform, Mentioned Tim Stoker (The Magnus Archives), Pining Martin Blackwood, Post-The Unknowing (The Magnus Archives), Whump, Whumptober 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:01:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27116501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/remi_wolf/pseuds/remi_wolf
Summary: Martin had a job: distract Elias long enough that Melanie could sneak into his office and call the police. Well, he did it, and after being questioned by the police all day, he finally made it home. All that he needed to do now was to wait for the phone call from Jon telling him that they were successful stopping the Unknowing, that they were on their way home, safe and sound, and that they looked forward to seeing him on Monday.Now, if only the police officer would let him be and leave, rather than insisting that he has important news, and wouldn't he rather sit down to hear it?Whumptober Day 19: Broken Hearts. Prompts: Grief, Mourning Loved Ones, Survivor's Guilt
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9
Collections: Beguilements and Distractions, Remi's Whumptober Collection for 2020, Whumptober 2020





	the moments snatched away

“I’m sorry, Mr. Blackwood, but—”

“I’m sorry, I actually really can’t talk right now..." Martin trailed off as he looked at the policeman in front of him, trying not to feel too anxious already as he looked at the man, and then back at the phone. Jon, Tim, Basira, any one of them would be calling him soon to let them know that they were on the way home from the Unknowing. He had worked so hard to get away from the police earlier in the day to get to his phone in time for the call that he didn’t particularly want to be standing in his doorway while it happened. “Look, I’m really sorry, but I’m expecting a call, and I’m sure you have more follow-up questions regarding Elias, but—”

“Elias?” The officer looked confused for a moment before he shook his head. “No, I’m so sorry. I’m talking about Jonathan Sims? He has you listed in his wallet as an emergency contact, apparently.”

“What? He does?” Martin couldn’t hide the surprise on his face at that. He knew that they had gotten closer, that he wanted to ask him out to coffee or tea or a drink when Jon came back, but that couldn’t possibly be reciprocated at all. He puzzled over that for a moment before he properly registered and processed the rest of that comment. “Emergency contact? Why—why would he need an emergency contact?”

The officer frowned, looking down before taking a deep breath. “I’m sorry to give you this news, Mr. Blackwood. But Mr. Sims is in the hospital right now, in the intensive care unit. He was involved somehow in an accident at a small wax museum, and—”

“He’s alive?”

“We...don’t know. I’m sorry.”

They didn’t know if he was alive or not. Martin took a shaking breath as he clung to the door, trying not to let his knees buckle as he looked at the man. “You don’t—how can you not know? How can you not know if he’s alive or not?”

The man shrugged, seemingly helpless as he looked at Martin, unable to give him the answers that he so wanted. “I can’t tell you that, because I don’t know. I came to inform you, and inform you which hospital he’s at should you want to visit him.”

“Of course I’m going to visit him, are you stupid?” Martin wouldn’t normally ever think of being so rude to the man, but he didn’t know what else to do, the words slipped out, and after the stress of the day, it was too much to continue to try and be polite when his world crashed down around him. 

The officer held out a slip of paper, a small envelope, likely with the information about Jon and which hospital he was at, and what was wrong with him, and maybe a phone number by which to call the police or someone to figure out the whole story. The police officer kept talking, but Martin couldn’t hear anything past the heart beating in his chest and the blood in his ears, and he didn’t know what to do. Jon had to be okay. He had to be, he had to be absolutely okay, but the officer said that he wasn’t, that he was at the hospital and they didn’t even know if he was alive or dead and Martin didn’t know how to process that at all. How did they not know if he was alive or not?

“Mr. Blackwood?”

Martin snapped back to attention as the officer spoke, touching his shoulder, and he took a deep breath. “Yes, yes, I’m sorry. Do you need anything else?”

The officer looked concerned, eyes full of the emotion and Martin wanted to slam the door in his face and tell him that he wasn’t allowed to look like that, that he didn’t want his pity, but that couldn’t quite work yet. 

“Do you know of anyone else who might have been in that museum, Mr. Blackwood? The entire building was destroyed, and...and there were other bodies found.”

Martin’s hand immediately flew to his mouth, because  _ yes _ , he knew of others in the museum. He knew who else was there, at least that he cared about, and he nodded slightly. “I—I know of three others. Timothy Stoker. Daisy—well, I suppose her legal name was Alice—Tonner, and then Basira Hussain. Are...was there anyone else who—”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know that yet. They’re still in the process of recovering potential survivors right now.”

Martin nodded mutely, trying to ignore the sobs that were desperately trying to claw their way free of his throat. “Is there anything else you need?”

The officer paused as he looked at Martin before finally shaking his head. “No, Mr. Blackwood. I appreciate your assistance. Do you need a ride to the hospital?”

“No.” The word was a snap, quick and definitive, the least he could manage while keeping himself from sobbing. “Thank you. I need to get packed before I go to the hospital. Please leave me alone now.”

The sharp words continued, and while the officer looked uncertain about leaving Martin alone, and leaving him to find his way to the hospital on his own, he turned and left. He was barely three steps away before Martin slammed the door shut, finally collapsing as his knees gave way under him. It hurt, even if he barely noticed it, as he hit the floor, hot tears that burned and pricked at his eyes already gathering. He hated this, his eyes already hurt from crying, and they all knew this was a possibility, but it wasn’t supposed to be like this. 

Jon, Tim, all of them, they weren’t supposed to be dead, or almost dead, or missing. They were supposed to come home, and they were supposed to be so proud of him and Melanie because they were able to get Elias distracted enough to collect what they needed,  _ and _ they got him arrested, too. It was supposed to be a day of triumph, not this scattered mess of emotions that he didn’t know what to do with. 

The sobs racked and shook his chest as he slowly curled up on the cold, nicked linoleum of the floor next to the doorway. The tears hurt as they spilled out of his eyes, burning and hurting and he shivered on the cold floor as he couldn’t convince his body to stop sobbing for three people that hated him and the near-loss, maybe-loss, probable-loss of a person that might have loved him.

**Author's Note:**

> Once again, I am making Martin cry for this challenge! I'm so sorry, Martin, you don't deserve this at all, but I love you and I love writing you, and it's actually remarkably cathartic to write you in such pain, so I promise to write you some fluff later on. I hope everyone enjoyed this brief look into what might have happened after the Unknowing and how Martin got the news that he was one of two people left in the Archives, at least for now. Comments are always welcome! Thank you for reading!


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